


Struttin' with Some Barbecue

by Paycheckgurl



Series: Radio Kills the Video Star: Audio Codas [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Audio 043: Rhys & Ianto's Excellent Barbecue, Audio spoilers, Coda, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones Friendship, I swear not every entry in this series is about mourning...just the first three so far, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29433894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paycheckgurl/pseuds/Paycheckgurl
Summary: In which Ianto is invited to a barbecue, Gwen and Jack get pizza, Gwen does not like a voicemail she receives from Rhys, and Ianto calls Jack.Missing Scenes from Rhys and Ianto’s Barbecue
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Ianto Jones & Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Radio Kills the Video Star: Audio Codas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116167
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16





	Struttin' with Some Barbecue

**Author's Note:**

> Major spoilers for Rhys and Ianto’s Barbecue. 
> 
> One section includes some of Rhys’ dialogue from the audio, for the purpose of writing Gwen’s “off screen” side of the conversation in. It has been edited down for the purpose of this fic/being transformative to those words. To listen to the whole speech (which is way, way better than the parsed down version here) I highly recommend getting the audio from Big Finish.

Jack looked at the monitors, as various complex formulas danced around explaining the nature of the Time Bubbles popping up around the Cardiff area. The monitors didn’t pinpoint where they were showing up or predict them, but did run the mathematical formula connected to them and could maybe discern a pattern eventually. Every time the data changed they took note. They had no way of knowing exactly when the data would change. Maybe it wouldn’t. 

“It’s going to be a long, boring couple of hours staring at these readings,” he declared to Gwen and Ianto. “If anyone wants to go home now, feel free to. This isn’t exactly going to be the high octane action-adventure we’re all used to.”

Gwen sighed. “Even if I wanted to leave early, I can’t. Rhys is having his lads night tonight.” 

“Lads night?” asked Ianto with a raised eyebrow. Immediately he didn’t like the implications of that. 

“Oh don’t get me started…” was all Gwen had to say in response. 

“How’s Rhys doing, anyways?” asked Ianto. “You know...with everything?” It had only been two weeks since Gwen had to take a day off to attend the funeral of Rhys’ mate Daf unexpectedly. Ianto was far too familiar with unexpected deaths, and at this point it was fair to say Gwen was too. 

Gwen sighed. “I wouldn’t know, would I? He keeps acting like nothing’s changed. Like his friend isn’t gone. And everytime I try to bring it up he either acts oblivious or picks a fight with me. I know not everyone grieves the same way, but it’s like he’s just in denial about the whole thing or something. And then he insisted on doing this stupid barbecue he’s calling lads night...with Bananna and another one of his little gang. The whole thing is just...I hate it. And I really don’t think he’s okay.”

Ianto looked at Jack as he fiddled with monitors, he looked for all the world like he was bored out of his mind. 

“Gwen, walk with me,” he declared, as they walked to the other end of the hub. He sat her down on the hub sofa and sighed. 

“This whole lads night thing, it sounds...well, a bit like what Jack went and did with the whole surrogate thing, to be honest,” he said. “Probably a coping mechanism of some kind, but maybe not a good one.” 

“You’re probably right. I have half a mind to go home anyways and check up on him, but I don’t want to make it worse.” 

“No, the last thing you want is to make him feel like he can’t grieve the way he wants to.”

Gwen huffed. “When I say he’s insisting on this lad’s night I do mean  _ insisting _ . There's been the grill, the grocery shopping for the perfect cut...he’s acting like a bloody caveman.” 

“That’s kind of...huh,” said Ianto, a bit unsure of where his thoughts were going. The caveman comparison made him think of his brother-in-law for a second, well meaning but very...well...he was sure Rhys wasn’t quite that bad, in that way. But still, the associations with the whole ‘Lads Night’ thing ate at something he very much didn’t like. 

Gwen looked thoughtful for a second. “Ianto, this is kind of a big ask but…would you maybe consider...going to see if he’s alright? Tell him I passed an invitation onto you and see if he’ll talk to you.Talk to you about Dav and how he’s feeling?” 

He looked at her skeptically. “I don’t know. You’ve always been better at people than me. Than all of us.” 

“He’s not going to talk to me. I’m too close to this. But you...Ianto, he might actually open up to you. About this. About  _ Dav _ . I just...even when he’s pissing me the fuck off by being as dense as a fucking wall I love the silly bugger. More than anything I just want him to be  _ alright. _ ” 

Ianto squeezed her arm. “Yeah, I can do that for you. For Rhys.”

She shot him a wide grin.

“Now what exactly does one bring to a barbecue?” he mused. “I think we have carrot sticks in the freezer from when Jack tried to bully us into eating more veg earlier this week.” 

“Carrot sticks.  _ Yum _ ,” her emphasis on the word yum made it sound as if she didn’t exactly find them very delicious. “Isn’t there a reason neither of us ate those?” 

“Oh hush. It’ll be great! But seriously I shouldn’t be empty handed...bet I can pick up some box wine from Tesco on the way...” 

“Feast of kings,” laughed Gwen. 

* * *

“Well I’m bored of looking at time bubbles,” declared Jack. “Pizza?” 

Gwen smiled and offered him her arm to link with his. “You read my mind. Let’s go pick up some take away from Jubilee.” 

“Lead the way!” declared Jack. “The time bubbles will still be there when we get back.”

Gwen’s phone rang and went to voicemail as she put in the order at the Jubilee counter. She silenced it as they rang out. Whatever it was could wait for their usual pizzeria cashier to finish the transaction. 

In the moment the only thing that mattered was a good slice. 

* * *

“Love…”

Gwen cut him off. In the time it had taken to get her slice of pizza, Rhys has managed to piss her off. The voicemail she received angrily accused her of pulling a vengeful prank and threw Ianto under the bus. That, oh that, she was not going to stand for.

“What was that message Rhys Williams? I swear if I get even the slightest inkling you’ve taken your frustration with me out on  _ Ianto  _ of all people…” 

“No, no List...listen...no, no ignore my message. I was being a right arse.”

“Oh,” that was decidedly not what Gwen was expecting to hear. “Are you two having fun, then?” 

“No. I wouldn’t say...fun, exactly. We got trapped inside a time bubble.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. And for a moment there I’d thought I had it...but I just wanted to say I love you.”

“Oh Rhys. Oh Rhys, I love you too. Are you okay?” 

“Yeah. Gwen Cooper I love you so, so much. And thanks for putting up with me, especially when I’ve been uh…”

“‘A right arse?’” she quoted back at him affectionately. 

“Ever since…Dav...I’ve...I didn’t realize how badly I’d been dealing with it.”

“Oh Rhys no, you don’t need to—“

“No, no I know, but it needs to be said.”

“Wait. Hold on. You did just say... _ time bubble _ , right?” Because now Gwen was beginning to process this craziness of what she just heard a bit better. And  _ what? _

“Yeah. A time bubble. The thing you and Jack uh—“

“Oh shit Jack’s going to want to…” Well everything. Hear a status update. Get readings. Make sure Ianto was okay...

“I think Ianto’s calling him now. He’ll probably....”

Rhys trailed off. Ianto would probably tell Jack everything related to the technical side of things. But right now her biggest concern was Rhys. 

“Oh god Rhys are you really okay—“

“No, I’m fine.”

“It’s just you’ve been saying you were fine a lot—“

“Yeah honestly, really, truly deeply this time…” 

Rhys launched into a little speech and Gwen could just hear the sheer emotion he felt. About life. About living in the now. About being alive. About  _ Daf. _

“Could you do one small thing?” he asked as he finished. “Are you able to search for someone on your Torchwood database?”

“Uh, I should be able to, yeah.”

“A guy called Steven, he’s got a grandmother named Deidre in Mardee…I just want to know, if she’s fine. If he’s fine. If we survived then there’s a chance that she uhhh…”

Gwen typed furiously. She didn’t have all the facts, but she could tell this search was important to Rhys. From what little she could string together these two had been connected to...whatever it was Rhys and Ianto had just been through. 

“Got a hit. Looks like I’ve found both of them in the system. No major incidents reported regarding either of them, but I can check in on them in a bit by phone, and put in a request for emergency services to do a check.” 

Rhys sounded especially relieved as the conversation went forward. He extended an invitation to her and Jack to meet at Badger’s house. He sounded, well maybe ‘okay’, wasn’t the right word. But relieved. Better. So much better than what had been just five minutes ago for her. And for that, Gwen could whisper a silent thank you to Ianto. 

* * *

“So...quick recap,” began Ianto by way of introduction to his phone call, “I got trapped in a time bubble with Rhys, the phone lines across time and space somehow got crossed, and we got connected with a woman named Deirdre who sounded on our end like Rhys’ mate Badger, and sacrificed a barbecue to a void. All of which took about an hour from our perspective but five minutes to outside world. But on the bright side I affirmed my superior ability to start a fire and know what Rhys ‘ hand looks like if it were to get an X-ray.” 

“What?! Ianto are you okay?” 

“I’m fine. Really, I’m fine. It was...interesting for a bit there, but the bubble's gone and all’s back to normal. I’m sure Rhys is going to pass the invitation back to Gwen but well, we found the result of the bubbles. Nothing left to monitor now. Would you, maybe, be interested in coming around?”

“I’d like that. An hour?”

“Sounds good.” 

“You’re seriously alright. You would tell me if you weren’t alright?” 

“Of course. Details in the report, tomorrow.” 

_ “Ianto…” _ the warning tone, full of a special Jack brand of worry, was clear. So was the implicit ‘I’m not asking as your boss, I’m asking as your boyfriend’.

“Seriously I’m really, really okay, and I would tell you if that wasn’t the case.”Ianto paused for a second “And I should probably add, that well, Rhys isn’t that bad when you get to know him. This might actually be...nice. I’ll see you in an hour.” 

It always shocked Ianto how much affection Jack could put into just a few words. How much his meaning could be conveyed by tone alone. 

“See you then,” he said. On it’s own a simple statement. But the way Jack said it, the soft way his drawling accent danced over the words as he said it drenched in fondness. Well, Ianto knew there was more there.   


* * *

_**Bonus:** _

**Ianto:** A Guinea Pig named Bunny has stolen my tie…

**Jack:** I’m sorry what, now?

**Ianto:** I really liked that tie…

**Jack:** :( I really liked tying you up with that tie. We’re on our way, by the way. Just finishing up the final readings-print out and we’ll head over. 

**Ianto:** Okay. Bunny has eaten my carrot sticks. 

**Jack:** :( :( :( Those were so you’d eat your veggies. 

**Ianto:** They went to a good cause. In the end.

**Jack:** _Jack Harkness is typing..._


End file.
